Anti-blowout baffle question for R.M. or anyone else that made one.

Since the thread dissappeared.
Richard,
Why the bends in your anti-blowout baffle. I used your design for the first one I made. Worked great.
The second one I made for another WB, I used rolled aluminum & just ran it around the front & sides of the deck, dropping down about an inch, like a skirt. Ran the 2 WB's side by each and didn't notice any diff. Why the bend on yours.
Also ran a WB without the AB baffle beside one with & there is definately a huge difference.

I also saw Richards post about the baffle. I would think that you would need the angle because, when the leaves get thick if it is not angled like Richards, it would push a lot of the leaves. The angle would make them go under the deck easier.
Good post Richard, I am in the process of making one for my mower!!!!!

Mow,
I've found the thin aluminum bends itself & leaves get under the deck the same as the bent baffle. We've done some thick leaves with both & leaves seem to get under the deck the same. Also if you make it like a skirt you can bend it around the discharge side of the deck & cover all parts that have blowout.

mow money was right on about the bend that goes under the deck. It's not a matter of how thick the leaves are but rather how deep the leaves are.

The ultimate mulching system for leaves would have the front wide open so you could get leaves that are 4, 5 or even 6 inches deep under the mower. But then you would have tremendous blowout from the front.

If you use a blowout baffle that just extends the front of the mower straight down then at some point you will start to plow leaves. If you use one that is angled back under the mower deck you will push the leaves down "before" they get under the deck. You should be able to mulch deeper leaves with an angled baffle than a straight baffle.

Don't forget that you can always move the baffle up on the deck to capture deeper leaves and you can rivet an extension to the baffle that extends out of the front of the mower so you can capture deeper leaves. By riveting an extension to the baffle you could conceivably mulch leaves at any depth without plowing assuming the mower has the power to grind them up.

Originally posted by Richard Martin
and you can rivet an extension to the baffle that extends out of the front of the mower so you can capture deeper leaves. By riveting an extension to the baffle you could conceivably mulch leaves at any depth without plowing assuming the mower has the power to grind them up.

Click to expand...

This is why my Toro 36 with SFS deck has so little blowout with doubles. The deck extends out for the discharge chamber.

I was also going to try a spring loaded skirt baffle with thicker metal. Soft springs so when it starts to plow leaves the baffle just bends inwards to allow leaves in & springs back when there are less leaves.